Boron and lithium company — 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. — has officially begun mining operations at its 5E Boron Americas Complex with the startup of the wellfield injection process.
The company is now working under its EPA UIC permit to extract valuable minerals from its wholly-owned project at Fort Cady.
Following the recent announcement of its operational plan, the company has now begun wellfield operations to complete outstanding operational items at the facility in parallel.
5E expects to begin lab production in the short term and production of boric acid and lithium carbonate from the small-scale facility by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2024.
5E Advanced Materials CEO Susan Brennan stated: “The 5E team has been resilient through the construction process, navigating several challenges and ultimately bringing our facility online.
“We look forward to 2024 as we continue advancing our vision as we now become the newest domestic producer of boric acid and lithium carbonate.”
This initial production will be used for customer qualification as 5E seeks to obtain bankable offtake agreements and future sales to support FEL 2 engineering, while the company also focuses on commercial scale.